The mayor of Springfield is calling on the administration of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to end a practice by the past administration of placing homeless families in congregate housing.
An angry Mayor Domenic Sarno said de-facto group homes for homeless families have been created in apartment buildings concentrated in a handful of city neighborhoods since last fall with city inspectors finding in some cases 3-4 families living in a single apartment.
" This is absolute BS," said Sarno at a city hall news conference.
He said the use of “co-shelters” for the homeless greatly expanded last fall as the Patrick administration sought to reduce the numbers of homeless families sheltered in motels in Chicopee and Holyoke following complaints from officials in those cities.
" We do not accept this. We want this to stop immediately. We want to be part of a comprehensive plan that makes sense," said Sarno
Sarno said city officials only became aware of the expansion of the state-funded family shelter program in Springfield after the city’s inspectional services responded to complaints about a lack of heat and other problems in some of the apartments.
" How is this good for the families? We do care about the families," said Sarno.
City officials say they have identified 86 apartments that are being used to house multiple homeless families, but suspect the number is greater. The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development contracts with social service agencies that locate and rent the apartments used to shelter the homeless.
Geraldine McCafferty, Director of Housing for the City of Springfield, called the state’s shelter system “broken.”
" We have had many different attempts to reform, they run out of money and end. We have a shell game of moving people from this location to that location, but not doing anything to provide stable housing."
Jim Goodwin, President and CEO of the Center for Human Development, one of the agencies that provides the Springfield apartments for the homeless under contract with the state, said he understands the mayor’s frustration, but said Massachusetts has a “major homelessness problem.”
He said his agency provides support services for the homeless families and strives to move them to permanent housing after 3-4 months.
"There is not an attempt to create a homeless ghetto, or anything like that," said Goodwin.
Baker spoke about the issue of homelessness during a visit to Holyoke City Hall as governor-elect last month. He said he planned to tackle it in much the same way as he did when he was Health and Human Services Secretary under Governor William Weld in the 90s.
"We pursued an aggressive case managed program to help people find transitional and permanent housing usually back in the communities they came from," Baker explained. " We will be pursing a similar approach."
This is not the first time Sarno has clashed with local social service providers over housing issues. He called last year for a moratorium on the resettlement of refugees in Springfield, asserting the city was being overburdened.
Copyright 2015 WAMC Northeast Public Radio
